Monday, December 1, 2014

A Misfits Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was . . . different.

Our power went out at about 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve due to almost a foot of wet heavy snow that surprised us early this year. 

It wasn't back on when we woke up so we relied on our trusty generator to provide enough power to cook the 19 pound turkey we had thawed and stuffed.


I felt bad for the families who were unable to cook Thanksgiving dinner at all. Some coastal peninsulas, like Harpswell, still had no power yesterday.  I imagine that it's difficult to be thankful when you're cold and hungry.
 

Since my Mom passed away in April  and my sister, Nancy, before that, our family has grown smaller. I miss the days when we would have 20 or more people at our house for Thanksgiving.


Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving 2009

This year, it looked as if there would be just THREE of us for Thanksgiving - DH, DD and me. I wasn't sure how to make that feel "festive".

Then it became FOUR; my friend who is a minister would be between church services and was excited to share Thanksgiving dinner with us. We laughingly referred to ourselves as the "Misfits Thanksgiving" . . . a day for "the otherwise uninvited".


On Thanksgiving morning, the snow storm added another guest to our little dinner group. Another friend was stranded in the snow and couldn't join his family in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving.
Now we were FIVE. This was beginning to feel like a real Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2004
The dinner was delicious and the sweet simplicity of the day was an unexpected joy.
As we were contemplating dessert, the doorbell rang and BFF Mary Elizabeth arrived.  Now we were SIX! We sat over pie and coffee martini's and Bailey's well into the evening, sharing stories and laughing.
We were thrown together for Thanksgiving due to changes in our families and changes in the weather. And, at least for that one day . . .

Our little band of "misfits" became a family.


7 comments:

  1. How kind and generous you are, Cheryl, to welcome your unexpected guests into your home and share your Thanksgiving dinner. They may not be your family, but you certainly made them feel like they are. A lovely day for all. :o)

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  2. We attended a "misfits Thanksgiving" one year in San Francisco. Our daughter and her roommates invited anyone who didn't have a place to go. It was one of my favorite Thanksgivings.

    Happy December

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  3. Those are the best kinds of holiday dinners, when unexpected but welcome guests join us. Glad you had a lovely dinner, in warmth and with light!

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  4. Sure sounds like a fun day. That generator sure came in handy. Did you have heat too?

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  5. I love your snowy photo! We got a foot of snow here that day and there were thousands without power in the Fredericton area but we were okay (and it wasn't Thanksgiving!). It sounds like you had a wonderful time with your 'misfits'. That's almost the best kind of celebration I think. Generators sure come in handy.

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  6. Wasn't it an awful storm. Well glad you had a fun time anyway.
    I have the whole house on an auto Generator so we had neighbors over also.
    Have a wonderful holiday season. It is very cold in Maine, ugh ice now. yvonne

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  7. How nice! And I hope you have a Merry Christmas, too! We live in Florida and it's been cooler here...but not cold like you experience! Happy holidays, Diane

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